FEMINIST THOUGHT AND MIMETIC THEORY: INSIGHTS AND CHALLENGES IN THE WORK OF RENÉ GIRARD

Identifying key features in feminist theory over four decades that still inform feminist thought today, Reineke argues that Ren & eacute; Girard's mimetic theory offers a compelling intervention in "identity politics", a concept which some feminist theorists have employed to analyze inequalities. So also does it shed light on escalating rivalries among groups with similar interests, as exemplified in recent rivalries among feminist scholars and advocates. In turn, feminist theory can contribute to mimetic theory. Mimetic theory has neglected the central role of sensory experience in human life, whether as a vehicle of trauma and suffering or healing and transformative agency. Mimetic theory will be enhanced when Girardian scholars locate the impetus for a change from violent mimesis to intimate mediation in sensory experience, reclaiming for mimetic theory a perspective on sensory experience that feminist theory has illuminated.